EVENT DESCRIPTION

Ernest Thayer, author of the famous poem "Casey at the Bat," was born in 1863. Thayer published the poem on June 3, 1888, as a staff writer for the San Francisco Examiner. The poem has become a traditional part of the baseball season ever since.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

Let Ernest Thayer's famous poem inspire your students!

In small groups or individually, students can make baseball cards for the players in the poem. Read "Casey at the Bat" aloud to students and ask them to listen carefully for the details and characteristics about each of the players involved in the fictional baseball game. Ask students to choose one of the characters, and think about what should appear on the front and back of his baseball card. Have students look at some real baseball cards if possible to provide inspiration. Finally, students can use a word processor or the interactive Character Trading Cards to create their cards.